Freemasonry And Archæology.

anachronisms and errors as to persons and facts . " And most true it is . Our gveat historians , like Anderson and Preston , relying on oral tradition , or rather incorporating it with

what they professed to issue to the Craft and to the world as history , have unavoidably imported into their valuable works something of the uncertainty , unreliability , and

anachronisms of oral tradition . If in the main their histories are still the best representation of our Masonic annals , it is because they themselves were thoroughly honest men

and have simplified , or arranged , or put into their own language , the old oral traditions , the " textus receptus , " if one may so say , of Masonic history and record . But as the

Germans say , their ' s was not a " sufficiently critical mind- " and here therefore the work of the Archaeologist begins . To harmonise conflicting statements , to verify quotations , and , above

all , to reconcile the known facts of history with the claims of ancient tradition , these are the Masonic Archaeological student ' s aim . and labours to day , and they are neither easy nor

always satisfactory . We have happily outlived the time when any one could think that either or " suggestio falsi , " or a " suppressio veri , " or even a " fraus pia , " could really advance the

truth of history or the claims of Freemasonry . Either through carelessness , or ignorance , or hasty assumption , or imperfect generalisation , some of our writers have made statements on

the faith of others , and the authority of others , unverified and uncollated . Later writers have most complacently accepted the same as facts , proven incontestibly , vet without an attempt to

substantiate them , and hence the weary hours which are the lot of all zealous Masonic students , who search for " passages " which cannot be found , " quotations" which elude

research , " books" even which have no existence and " persons" who cannot be traced . Let us take one illustration of the labours of a Masonic student , and the hopelessness of many Masonic

quotations . In all the old histories ! you hear of a lodge of Canterbury , under Archbishop Chiceley , temporeHenry VI ., and you arereferredmostcategorically to the register of Wm . Molart , Prior of

Christ Church , Canterbury . Everybody took the reference for many years as correct , though no one professed to have seen it . At last it occured to one of our modern students , who was

studying the question with a well known Archaeologist , that the reference must refer to Wm . Molash , whose register did exist in one of the College libraries at Oxford , and not to William Molart

who was a mythical personage . And there , sure enough , is found , on a page on whichChicheley ' s name occurs , on the top , a list of the Masters , two wardens , so many brethren , and so

many apprentices , " de la Loge , Lathomorum , who received " murrey cloth , " annually as " liverye " from the Monastery , just as Chicheley did . I have selected this

especial illustration , because it proves , remarkably , the true position of most of our Masonic traditions , that there is a basis of truth at the bottom ,

and if their " outcome" is not quite often in the way , we expect , as a general rule , Masonic Archaeology is furthered , and true Masonic history is strengthened by their investigation . We

Freemasonry And Archæology.

trust that we have said enough to point out the true value and real importance of archaeological enquiry for our Order , and the expediency and duty , as far as we are concerned , of hailing all

Masonic Archaeological study , and encouraging all Masonic students as heartily as we can . Our most distinguished Grand Master has latel y been welcoming one of the great Archaeological

Societies of this country to Ripon , and to Fountains . There , within that vast sanctuary of God , which under the happy auspices of Sir Gilbert Scott , we now can see restored to all the

comeliness and beauty which religious restoration would demand , there amid the ruins , and the stately trees , and glades of Fountains , our Grand Master would , with his usual good taste and

eloquence , heartily welcome the goodly band of Archaeologists , and as wotthily fill his presidental chair . No one knows better than himself , as no one has more effectively said , to

whom we owe every form and feature , which fill the delighted visitor with admiration and with awe , for there , on many a lichened stone and many a crumbling arch , we still can trace

the indelible mark of the Mason ' s hand , which tells us to day , though hundreds of years have rolled away , that our operative forefathers once were there , with square and compass , with chisel

and with maul . Pleasant office of Archaeology , as it were , to open out for us the roll of ages , to transform thc rain of to-diy into the glory of a departed shrine , to fill those silent grounds with

the forms and voices of buried centuries , and to show us how continuous after all are life and labour in this world of ours , how though timepasses on and the years fade , and everything , around

us shows tokens of decay , the true and beautiful , all that is useful and graceful and affecting , all that ministers to the honour of God , or the welfare of man , survive " decay ' s effacing

fingers , ' and are continually restored and renovated , rebuilt or re-erected by us , who have inherited what our fathers have left , to our piety , our reverence , and our love .

The Boys' School.

THE BOYS' SCHOOL .

We have been looking into the Boys' School expenditure lately , and we think it well to call the attention of the Craft to its present position , and its future prospects . It seems that the

whole receipts of the Boys School to the close of 187 , 3 , amounted to ^ 13 , 54 . 8 ijs . . 3 d ., which sum included a balance of £ 1 , 280 12 s . Jd ., from 1872 . Its special receipts , as we may term

them , such as purchased presentations and admissions , grants from Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter , and legacies , amounted to , £ 2 , 893 4 s . The annual subscription , and donati ons reached

the large amount of ^ 9 874 18 s . •in all , as we said before , £ 13 , 54 8 15 s . 2 d . And what was its balanced expenditure ?—sS 13 , 548 15 s . 2 d . That expenditure may be divided as it seems to us , into

four heads . First , Speciai Old Building Debt , ^ 4 , 4 , 59 7 s . iod . ¦ Secondly , New Building Account , £ 2 , 31 : 4 is . 3 d . ; Special School

Expenditure , sfc 749 12 s . _ d . ; Ordinary School Expenditure , 5 ^ 5 , 946 13 s . 9 d . •actual Balance , and Credit , £ 78 19 s . iid . In all , as we said previously , 5 ^ 13 , 548 Us , od , Hence it is clear

The Boys' School.

to us that to carry on the Boys' School efficientl y and thoroughly , an annual income alone of £ 7 , 000 per annum is absolutely required , and that , be it remembered , Is at the number

of inmates of whom the expense is reckoned up to the close of 1873 . If we increase the number of boys we must correspondingly increase our yearly subscription to the Boys' School .

Each boy may be said to cost , reckoning all kinds of expenditure , £ 45 . There are now 176 boys in the Institution , a number in excess of last year , so that the members of our kindly

Order must always bear in mind , that the greater the efficiency of the School , and the greater the numbers in the School , the larger and more pressing becomes the demand on their

continued exertions , and their sympathetic aid . The Boys' School will therefore require £ 8 , 000 at the least this current year to enable it to maintain its efficiency as a great Educational

Institution ! The accounts , which we have carefully considered , convince us how well and economically our Boys' School is conducted , reflecting every

credit as it does on the managers , and on the Craft which gives to it such warm and generous support . We must always bear in mind that the Boys' School has no funded property nor

standing income , and we feel that we should not be doing our duty to so excellent an Institution if we did not urge upon all our readers to continue their active sympathy and support , trusting

that by degrees a permanent endowment fund may again be formed , which will encourage the House Committee to persevere in its wise course of moral progress and improvement . Not one

of our Institutions can be of mere importance to us as a body than the Boys' School , and we are convinced that it will receive in the future ,

as it has in thc past and present , the ready offerings and fraternal aid of the warm-hearted members of our benevolent fraternity .

Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

Multum in Parbo , or Masonic Notes and Queries .

REVIRKSCO , BRO . BUCHAN , BRO . WOODI-ORD , AND BRO . HUGHAN . I am glad to note the discussion which has now begun , and which , let us hope , may be conducted Masonically and Archueologically to the close . So far all the letters are excellent ,

in tone and temper , and the whole subject is evidently in the hands of those who study before they talk and understand what they treat . Let no personalities creep in , or crop up , and this discussion promises to be of great benefit to Masonic Archaeology . SCOT ICUS .

BRO . P . M . COWLING . I see by a misprint that my able Bro . Cowling ' s name is made into Cawling in the last Freemason . He is , however , too well known in York to be mistaken for any one else . A . F . A . WOODFORD .

BRO . HUGHAN ' CHALLENGE . The challenge thrown down by Bro . Hughan , in The Freemason for June 27 , will doubtless arrest ' the attention of many of your readers , and , in common with many others , I confess to having been much interested by it . In connection with it I perused a very clever little

one-shilling work , advertised in your columns , and entitled " The Orig in of Freemasonry . The 1717 Theory Exploded . " I found , however , that there was considerable disagreement somewhere between it and the statements in Bro . Hughan ' s challenge , and in order to obtain more light upon the subject I would respectfully beg